Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Visas: Research

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps she is taking to ensure that the new visa scheme for international researchers announced on 27 January 2020 enables science and technology companies in (a) Cambridge and (b) the UK to access the global talent that they need to innovate and grow.

Amanda Solloway: The Government is committed to making the UK a global science superpower that attracts brilliant people and businesses from across the world. The Global Talent route makes several changes to the Tier 1 (Exceptional Talent) route that will make it easier for the UK’s science and research community to recruit global talent. The route includes a new UKRI Endorsed Funder fast-track route for scientists, researchers, their teams and dependents. The UK’s digital technology sector will also benefit from the Global Talent route. Tech Nation will remain an endorsing body for highly-skilled entrepreneurs and employees working in digital technology. In addition, there will no longer be a cap on the number of visas available.

Climate Change Convention

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many (a) civil servants and (b) diplomats are working on COP 26 preparations.

Kwasi Kwarteng: The COP26 Team in Cabinet Office consists of 140 civil servants (as of 12th February), including an international engagement team. The unit works closely with colleagues across Whitehall, and with the FCO’s overseas network, on the successful delivery of COP26.The Government is committed to making a success of COP26, working across Departments.A key element of this is working towards the UK’s net zero commitment, which is very important to this Government both domestically and internationally.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the findings of the report entitled Absolute Zero, published by UK FIRES in November 2019 on eliminating greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

Kwasi Kwarteng: We are committed to delivering on our world-leading target to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions from across the UK economy by 2050. As announced by the Prime Minister, 2020 is a Year of Climate Action which aims to inspire positive action on climate change across the UK in the build-up to COP26. The Government considers a wide variety of viewpoints on how to reach net zero. We agree with the advice of the Committee on Climate Change that a full range of solutions will be needed to meet our targets, including behaviour change, new technologies to reduce emissions across the economy, as well as greenhouse gas removal technologies that can capture carbon dioxide from the air. The UK has cut carbon emissions by more than any similar developed country. In doing so, we are now the world leader in offshore wind and have many other strengths in key decarbonisation technologies such as smart energy systems and electric vehicles. In the next decade, we will work with the market to deliver two million new high quality jobs in clean growth, creating opportunities across the country from future export markets.

*No heading*

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to help households improve their energy efficiency.

Kwasi Kwarteng: The Clean Growth Strategy set out the aspiration that as many homes as possible will be EPC Band C by 2035 where practical, cost-effective and affordable.The current iteration of the Energy Company Obligation (ECO3) will upgrade around a million homes for low income and vulnerable households by March 2022. ECO3 and its successor will drive over £5bn of investment in energy efficiency between now and 2028. Furthermore, the Manifesto committed to an additional £6.3bn of public investment to upgrade the energy performance of fuel poor homes and social housing.Last year, we launched Simple Energy Advice, a new digital and phoneline service to provide homeowners with impartial and tailored advice on how to cut their energy bills and make their homes greener, as well as information on any available financial support.We also launched two energy efficiency innovation competitions in summer 2019, both aimed at investigating ways to make energy efficiency cheaper and more accessible for householders. The Whole House Retrofit cost reduction trajectory competition made available £9.4 million of funding for projects which demonstrate the potential to reduce costs for Whole House Retrofit. The Green Home Finance Innovation Fund is making nearly £2 million of funding available for a series of projects to develop innovative green mortgage and other lending products, to improve householder access to green finance to support energy efficiency retrofit. We have also committed to consult later this year on requirements for lenders to support homeowners to improve the energy efficiency of their homes.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Hong Kong: Embassies

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to Written Question 8308, whether support has been offered to the 15-year-old girl arrested on UK consulate land in Hong Kong on 11 January 2020; and what representations have been made on the behalf of that girl to the relevant Hong Kong authorities.

Nigel Adams: The UK has repeatedly made clear that we support the right to peaceful and lawful protest. As in all overseas missions, we maintain regular contact with the police, including discussing the case in question. As Lord Ahmad stated on 15 January, any arrests and judicial processes should be conducted in a fair and transparent manner. We have made clear that we expect the Hong Kong authorities to abide by international human rights laws and practices.

Philippines: Human Rights

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he has had recent discussions with his Filipino counterpart on the potential effect on human rights of revoking the broadcast licence of ABS-CBN; and if he will make a statement.

Nigel Adams: We are concerned by any actions that seek to curtail freedom of expression or freedom of speech in the Philippines, or elsewhere. Senior UK officials discussed media freedom in the Philippines with Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Enrique Manalo, during High Level Talks in London in November 2019. Our Embassy in Manila continues to follow developments in the case of ABS-CBN closely.

Department of Health and Social Care

Cancer: Health Services

Elliot Colburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking improve cancer treatment in the (a) Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust and (b) Royal Marsden NHS Trust.

Elliot Colburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of cancer treatment outcomes in the (a) Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals and (b) Royal Marsden NHS Trusts.

Jo Churchill: Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust has a strong track record of providing high quality care to people with suspected or confirmed cases of cancer in a timely manner. Last year, the Trust met all of the waiting time standards we expect for cancer patients, including seeing 97.2% of patients with a suspected cancer within two weeks of their general practitioners (GPs) referral, 99.1% of patients began treatment with 31 days of diagnosis, and 89% of patients began treatment within 62 days of their initial referral.Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust is working on plans to improve the patient’s experience through their cancer journey. This includes access to a clinical nurse specialist or key worker, and they have recently appointed three Advanced Nurse Practitioners and funding approved to increase number of clinical nurse specialists. The Trust is introducing ‘Living With and Beyond Cancer’ – a new work stream to improve patient experience and care beyond their diagnosis and initial treatment and improving quality of life for those living with cancer. This includes NHS England and NHS Improvement data collection on long term quality of life metrics, stratified follow up pathways, reducing and managing long term outcomes of treatment, and Holistic Needs Assessments.The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust is a research active organisation, with an academic partnership with The Institute of Cancer Research, and, together, are ranked third in the world for impact of their research. The Royal Marsden is continually looking to improve the treatment options and facilities they offer to patients, including the first linear accelerators (LINAC) in the country and third in the world, which is now treating patients across six tumour types as part of clinical trials.The Royal Marsden is also the host of RM Partners, the only cancer alliance in England to achieve the 62 day target consistently during 2018/19 and which was awarded a further £10 million in funding from NHS England to continue to improve cancer outcomes for the population across west London.

Genito-urinary Medicine

Elliot Colburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when his Department plans to publish its national sexual health and reproductive health strategy.

Elliot Colburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when his Department plans to hold its stakeholder roundtable events on the national sexual health and reproductive health strategy.

Jo Churchill: Work on the development of a new national sexual and reproductive health strategy is underway with the Department working with Public Health England, NHS England and Improvement, local government and other partners. Some initial engagement with stakeholders has already taken place and we are also considering the responses to the Green Paper ‘Advancing our Health’ and the suggestions for priority areas for the new strategy we received through the consultation process. Details of the strategy’s scope, plans for more formal engagement with external organisations, including roundtables, timing of publication and implementation will be announced in due course.

HIV Infection: Drugs

Elliot Colburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure access for all to PrEP prior to routine commissioning starting in April 2020.

Elliot Colburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to publish further information on how (a) routine commissioning of PrEP will be (i) implemented and (ii) funded and (b) local health commissioners will be supported during the rollout of that routine commissioning.

Jo Churchill: Anyone requesting pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) through the Impact Trial must meet the agreed eligibility criteria. A core function of the trial’s Community Advisory Board (CAB) is to raise awareness and uptake of PrEP in key populations. Further information about PrEP Impact Trial CAB activities and participating community groups can be found at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/commissioning/spec-services/npc-crg/blood-and-infection-group-f/f03/prep-trial-updates/The Impact Trial website includes a map showing the distribution of the 154 clinics level 3 Sexual Health Services participating in the trial at the following link:www.prepimpacttrial.org.ukThe Department is continuing to work closely with NHS England and NHS Improvement, Public Health England and local authorities to plan for routine commissioning of PrEP from April 2020. NHS England and NHS Improvement have already agreed to fund the on-going costs of drugs for PrEP going forward. We will provide information on how other elements of the programme will be funded and how commissioners will be supported very shortly.

Prostate Cancer: Screening

Carla Lockhart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits on introducing routine prostate cancer screening.

Jo Churchill: The United Kingdom National Screening Committee (UK NSC) has commenced work to review the evidence to offer population screening for prostate cancer as per its three-yearly cycle. A three-month public consultation will take place in summer 2020 where a recommendation will be made. Further information and how to participate in the consultation will be available at the following link:https://legacyscreening.phe.org.uk/screening-recommendations.php

HIV Infection: Drugs

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, of 28 January 2020, Official Report column 658, what steps he is taking to ensure that PReP is accessible to women; and how the roll-out of PReP to women is monitored by his Department.

Jo Churchill: A core function of the pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) Impact Trial Community Advisory Board (CAB) is to raise awareness and uptake of PrEP in key populations, including women. Further information about PrEP Impact Trial CAB activities and participating community groups can be found at the following links:https://www.england.nhs.uk/commissioning/spec-services/npc-crg/blood-and-infection-group-f/f03/prep-trial-updates/https://www.prepimpacttrial.org.uk/faqsA subgroup of the PrEP CAB aims to specifically address PrEP Impact Trial access for women. The subgroup has developed a questionnaire to use with women attending sexual health clinics in order to increase knowledge and awareness among women and to aid discussions about PrEP with health workers. More information can be found at the following link:https://sophiaforum.net/index.php/women-and-prep/In addition, Public Health England’s Innovation Fund has supported a number of community based projects aimed at increasing PrEP awareness in women; information on the projects funded in 2018 can be found at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/news/innovative-hiv-prevention-projects-reached-170000-people-in-2018As at October 2019, places filled by women and other groups account for over 4% of total trial participants. As of 12 February 2020, all participating Trial clinics were open to recruitment for women, trans men and heterosexual men. Information on the enrolment status of participating clinics is regularly updated on the PrEP Impact Trial website at the following link:https://www.prepimpacttrial.org.uk/join-the-trial

Alcoholic Drinks and Drugs: Health Services

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much was spent from the public purse by (a) NHS bodies and (b) local authorities on (i) drug and (ii) alcohol abuse (A) prevention and (B) treatment in (1) 2016-17, (2) 2017-18, (3) 2018-19 and (4) 2019-2020 to date.

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much was spent from the public purse by the NHS on alcohol-related hospital admissions in (a) 2018-2019, (b) 2017-2018, (c) 2016-2017 and (d) 2015-2016.

Jo Churchill: Data on spending on drug and alcohol abuse prevention and treatment (including alcohol related hospital admissions) by National Health Service bodies and providers is not collected centrally. Local authorities report their spending on drug and alcohol treatment and prevention to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. This information is published by the Office for National Statistics and is known as the local authority outrun. Local authority spend for 2016/17, 2017/18 and 2018/19 is shown in the following table. Figures for 2019/20 have not yet been published. Service Provision2016/172017/182018/19Treatment for alcohol misuse£202,777,000£186,803,000£182,384,000Preventing and reducing harm from alcohol misuse£38,073,000£45,478,000£43,682,000Treatment for drug misuse£425,345,000£393,017,000£365,488,000Preventing and reducing harm from drug misuse£67,584,000£67,009,000£67,805,000Drug and alcohol misuse services for children and young people£49,400,000£44,239,000£40,066,000Overall spend£783,179,000£736,546,000£699,425,000 The annual local authority outruns can be viewed at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/local-authority-revenue-expenditure-and-financing-england-2018-to-2019-individual-local-authority-data-outturnThrough the NHS Long Term Plan, up to 50 hospitals will establish Alcohol Care Teams, which could prevent 50,000 admissions over five years.

Diabetes: Medical Equipment

Paul Girvan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effect on people with diabetes of the slow-down in production and shipping of Freestyle Libre glucose monitoring sensors from Abbott; and if he will make statement.

Jo Churchill: The Department is aware of current supply issues with the Freestyle Libre glucose monitoring sensors and it is maintaining regular contact with the supplier Abbott to re-establish the reliable supply of this product.This is a temporary disruption caused by increases in demand and we have already seen steady progress to improve the situation over the recent weeks.The information provided refers to the National Health Service in England only.

Electronic Cigarettes: Children

Mr Ranil Jayawardena: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of whether vaping shops are fulfilling their legal requirements to verify age and not sell to children.

Jo Churchill: E-cigarettes in the United Kingdom are tightly regulated by the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016 (TRPR) and the Nicotine Inhaling Products (Age of Sale and Proxy Purchasing) Regulations 2015 (NIP). These regulations include preventing sale to under 18s, restrictions on mainstream TV and radio advertising, and limit both tank sizes and nicotine content. Local trading standards have powers for enforcement of both regulations. The Government has also funded the Chartered Trading Standards Institute to undertake a review of compliance of nicotine vaping products. The latest report, ‘The Tobacco Control Survey for England 2018/19: A Report of Trading Standards Service Activity’ reports that 34 councils were able to report the number of visits with volunteer young people where sales had occurred. 90 test purchase attempts resulted in an underage sale being made. This results in a 40% test-purchase-to-sale rate. We are monitoring youth use closely and will take action, if necessary, to ensure that regular use among children and young people does not increase, and that e-cigarettes do not become a gateway to tobacco use. We continue to keep the evidence base on e-cigarettes under review and the next Public Health England annual review is due to be published next month.

Electronic Cigarettes: Safety

Mr Ranil Jayawardena: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department (a) is aware of all substances used in vaping liquids and (b) has assessed the safety of all such substances.

Jo Churchill: Electronic cigarettes and nicotine-containing refill containers (e-liquids) are regulated under the Tobacco and Related Product Regulations 2016. A notification must be submitted to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) for each product prior to launch. This must include a list of ingredients and information on their toxicology and emissions.The regulations prohibit ingredients that cause harm to human health, including respiratory sensitisers and substances known to cause cancer, cause mutation in cells or are toxic to reproduction. The notifier bears full responsibility for the quality and safety of their product and the MHRA checks all notifications to ensure the absence of prohibited substances.

*No heading*

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has include people with life-long debilitating medical conditions in the categories of people eligible for free medication.

Jo Churchill: The Department has no plans to review or amend of the list of medical conditions that provide entitlement to exemption from prescription charges. Extensive arrangements are already in place to help people access National Health Service prescriptions. These include a broad range of exemptions from the prescription charge for which someone with a long-term condition may qualify, including for people on low incomes through receipt of specific benefits and through the NHS Low Income Scheme.To support those with the greatest need who do not qualify for an exemption, prescription pre-payment certificates are available for three months or 12 month periods. A holder of a 12-month certificate can get all the prescriptions they need for just £2 per week.

*No heading*

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the long-term effects of video game addiction on primary school-aged children.

Jo Churchill: No assessment has been made. As part of the NHS Long Term Plan, NHS England has made provision for children and young people who are seriously addicted to computer games to be treated in a new Centre for Internet and Gaming Disorders. The NHS National Gaming Disorder Clinic provides treatment for problem gamers, aged 13-25, living in England and Wales.

Department for International Development

*No heading*

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent discussions his Department has had with representatives of the Government of Tanzania on aid to that country.

James Duddridge: The UK Government engages regularly on overseas development assistance with representatives of the Government of Tanzania. These discussions take place at all levels of government, from national to local. This is to ensure that our aid is targeted, impactful and in line with national priorities.

*No heading*

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps his Department is taking to help developing countries tackle tax avoidance and evasion.

James Duddridge: DFID’s support is helping developing countries to collect more taxes from where they are due. The aim is to build self-sustaining economies that can generate their own financing through increased tax revenue and private investment. In addition to providing capacity building support in-country through bilateral support programmes, this includes providing £10.3 million to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to assist developing countries to implement international tax standards to tackle international tax evasion and avoidance. For example, through this funding we are supporting the ‘Tax Inspectors Without Borders’ initiative, which assists developing countries with issues such as complex international audits. This programme has generated an additional $100 in revenue for every $1 spent on operating costs.

Department for Education

Special Educational Needs: Finance

Ian Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what funding he has allocated to support (a) primary and (b) secondary school pupils with special educational needs in Liverpool, West Derby constituency; and how that allocation compares with the average funding level across England.

Michelle Donelan: We recently announced £780 million additional high needs funding for 2020-21, a 12% rise bringing the total to over £7 billion. Every local authority in England will see an increase in high needs funding of at least 8% per head of population aged 2 to 18. Liverpool will receive £57.9 million in total high needs funding next year. The department does not break down high needs funding by constituency.When the costs of additional support required for a pupil with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) exceed £6,000, the local authority should also allocate additional top-up funding to cover the excess costs. This top-up funding, and funding for special schools, comes from the local authority’s high needs budget.We have also allocated £365 million special provision capital funding to local authorities in England from 2018 to 2021, to increase number of places available locally and enhance facilities for children with the most complex SEND. This could include re-purposing areas so that they meet the needs of pupils with SEND.

Food Poverty: Academic Year

Ian Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans his Department has to provide meals for disadvantaged school children during school holidays in 2020 in (a) Liverpool West Derby constituency and (b) the UK.

Michelle Donelan: During the 2018 summer holidays the Department awarded £2 million to 7 organisations to deliver free healthy food and enriching activities to disadvantaged children. With this money, the Department were able to support more than 280 clubs and reach around 18,000 children.In 2019, this funding was more than quadrupled to explore a model of local coordination of free holiday provision in 11 local authority areas, reaching around 50,000 children.In 2020, the Department will again invest £9 million to support children and their families. Officials are currently processing the bids received and the Department will announce the outcome and the chosen organisations and locations in due course. This has been a competitive bidding process and all areas were able to apply for this funding.The scheme operates in England only as education is a devolved matter.

Special Educational Needs

Carla Lockhart: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to increase the level of sensory equipment in primary schools.

Michelle Donelan: Every school is required to identify and address the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) of their pupils. Schools also have duties under the Equality Act (2010) towards individual disabled children and young people. They must make reasonable adjustments, including the provision of auxiliary aids and services, to ensure that disabled children are not at a substantial disadvantage compared with their peers. Local authorities are responsible for meeting the additional support costs for pupils with SEND up to the value of £6,000 per pupil by providing schools with sufficient funds to enable them to do so from the schools block of the Dedicated Schools Grant. When the costs of additional support required for a pupil with SEND exceed £6,000, the local authority should also allocate additional top-up funding to cover the excess costs. This top-up funding, and funding for special schools, comes from the local authority’s high needs budget. The department recently announced £780 million in additional high needs funding for the next financial year, bringing total high needs funding to over £7 billion. Every local authority in England will see an increase in high needs funding of at least 8% per head of population aged 2 to 18. The department have also allocated £365 million special provision capital funding to local authorities in England from 2018 to 2021, to increase the number of places available locally and enhance facilities for children with the most complex SEND. This could include re-purposing areas so that they meet the needs of pupils with SEND.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Private Rented Housing: Reform

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the timeframe is for bringing forward legislative proposals for a Renters Reform Bill.

Luke Hall: The Government is committed to enhancing renters’ security and improving protections for short-term tenants. We will bring forward a Renters’ Reform Bill as soon as Parliamentary time allows.

Disabled Facilities Grants

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to ensure access to the Disabled Facilities Grant for older tenants and their landlords in the private rented sector.

Luke Hall: Anyone can apply for a Disabled Facilities Grant, including people living in private rented accommodation, subject to a means test and an assessment of need. Tenure should not impact a person’s ability to access the home adaptations they need. The Government also funds Foundations, the national body for home improvement agencies. Foundations works closely with local authorities to promote best practice in the delivery of home adaptations, including providing information and advice to older people living in private rented accommodation and their landlords.

Economic Growth

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to encourage local growth in (a) Crawley and (b) the UK.

Luke Hall: The Government is committed to levelling up the entire country and giving towns, cities and communities across the UK real power and investment to drive the growth of the future and unleash their full potential.We have taken action to encourage local growth in Crawley that includes:The opportunity to receive up to £25 million from the Towns Fund as one of the 100 places selected to develop a Town Deal with Government;£24 million from the Local Growth Fund, supporting infrastructure, regeneration and skills projects;Advice and support to 40 Crawley small businesses in the last financial year from Coast to Capital Local Enterprise Partnership’s Growth Hub.Across the UK the Government is supporting local partners to deliver local economic growth and prosperity through:£12 billion of investment by 2021 through the Local Growth Fund in England in infrastructure, skills and innovation projects;Devolving powers and funding to eight Metro Mayors, with ongoing negotiations for new devolution deals across the North;Commitments to the Northern Powerhouse, Midlands Engine and Oxford-Cambridge Arc, as well as local industrial strategies being developed by Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) across England to drive growth across their areas;Town Deals from the £3.6 billion Towns Fund and investment in our High Streets;City and Growth Deals worth £10 billion in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland;Developing a UK Shared Prosperity Fund to tackle inequality and deprivation in each of our four nations.

Temporary Accommodation: Children

Rachel Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of children living in temporary accommodation in Luton.

Luke Hall: Time spent in temporary accommodation means people are getting help and it ensures no family is without a roof over their head. However, the Government is also committed to reducing the number of households in temporary accommodation and has already invested over £1.2 billion in tackling homelessness. This includes supporting Local Authorities in the implementation of the Homelessness Reduction Act, increasing access to the private rented sector for families in temporary accommodation and supporting London boroughs to procure temporary accommodation more efficiently.In December 2019 the Government announced a further £263 million in funding to Local Authorities to support them to deliver services to tackle homelessness and help households into accommodation. This is an increase in overall funding for homelessness of £23 million on the previous financial year.Nationally, the number of children living in temporary accommodation is down from its peak in June 2006 at 134,470, with 127,370 in June 2019.The figures for children living in temporary accommodation in Luton are in the published local authority level tables available here from 2018 onwards:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-homelessnessPrior to 2018, the figures for children living in temporary accommodation in Luton can be found in the individual LA level tables (listed under discontinued tables):https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-homelessness#discontinued-tables

Housing: Romford

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many families were recorded as living in overcrowded conditions in Romford constituency in (a) 2015 and (b) the most recent date for which data is available.

Luke Hall: The Government does not hold this data. The 2018-19 English Housing Survey does estimate levels of overcrowding, based on three-year averages, but not at a constituency level.The local authority or local authorities who cover the Romford constituency may be able to provide this information. Local authorities have a legal duty to keep housing conditions in their area under review.

*No heading*

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department has taken to assess the viability of flat-pack housing as a means of tackling housing shortages.

Luke Hall: This Government is committed to supporting modern methods of construction (MMC), including modular and panellised systems. It is well recognised that new technology and innovation have improved productivity, quality and choice across a range of sectors and we are keen to see the same happen in housing.Homes England provide development finance to developers using MMC and have also invested directly into an MMC factory using the £4.5 billion Home Building Fund.Our Local Authority Accelerated Construction programme aims to increase the speed of build out and encourage widespread use of MMC. Homes England currently has contracts in place with local authorities for over 7,400 units, all of which include some aspects of MMC.

*No heading*

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that new council housing is of adequate quality.

Luke Hall: All new housing, including council housing, must meet the requirements of the building regulations and any development plan policies on design quality through the planning system.

*No heading*

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to enforce building regulation inspections to help ensure the quality of housing builds.

Luke Hall: Building Regulations set standards for the design and construction of new homes and the primary responsibility for compliance with these requirements rests with the person carrying out the building work, such as the developer or builder. The Building Act 1984 provides local authorities with a general duty to enforce compliance with building regulations and formal enforcement powers for dealing with breaches of the Building Regulations.The Government agreed with the recommendations in Dame Judith Hackitt’s independent review of the building regulations and fire safety system and is committed to putting stronger accountability at the heart of a more effective system. As part of our reforms to building safety, we are establishing a new Building Safety Regulator which will provide enhanced oversight of the building safety regulatory system - driving competence amongst professions and trades working on buildings, as well as leading oversight of the tougher regime for high risk buildings.

Department for Work and Pensions

Universal Credit

Ian Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many applications for universal credit lapsed or were withdrawn due to the death of the applicant in (a) Liverpool West Derby constituency, (b) Merseyside and (c) England since the introduction of universal credit.

Will Quince: The breakdown requested is not available and to provide it would incur disproportionate costs. However, in the 12 months to end of 2019, 2,300, or less than 0.07 per cent, applications were made to Universal Credit where the claimant passed away and the claims closed after the declaration, but prior to receiving the first payment. Universal Credit can be claimed by a range of working age people, some of whom have health conditions or disabilities, which may be degenerative or life limiting. The decision to claim Universal Credit can be prompted by a range of a factors, including when someone is terminally ill, so mortality figures should not be viewed in isolation.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Air Pollution: Urban Areas

Ian Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to reduce air pollution in (a) Liverpool and (b) other cities.

Rebecca Pow: As a result of the 2017 NO2 Plan and 2018 supplement, 61 local authorities including Liverpool have been required to assess what action is needed to address NO2 exceedances in their area and develop local plans. The Government is committed to improving air quality in the UK and have provided £572 million to support the development and implementation of required measures by these local authorities. Liverpool City Council submitted a final plan to deliver compliance with legal limits for NO2 in the form of an Outline Business Case in October last year. We continue to work with the Council to ensure their final plan delivers compliance with legal NO2 limit levels in the shortest possible time. Our Clean Air Strategy (CAS) sets out an ambitious programme of action to reduce air pollutant emissions from a wide range of sources. The World Health Organization has recognised the CAS as an example for the rest of the world to follow. Our Environment Bill was reintroduced to Parliament on 30 January 2020 and makes a clear commitment to set an ambitious target for fine particulate matter, the pollutant of most concern for human health. It also ensures that local authorities have a clear framework and simple to use powers to tackle air pollution in their areas, and will provide the Government with new powers to enforce environmental standards for vehicles. All this action will improve air quality across the UK, including in the most affected areas

Fly-tipping: Bosworth

Dr Luke Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to tackle fly tipping in Bosworth constituency.

Rebecca Pow: Fly-tipping is an unacceptable blight on local communities, wherever it occurs, and a crime that the Government is committed to tackling. In recent years we have bolstered local authorities’ powers to tackle fly-tipping. Local authorities, such as Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council, have a range of powers available to tackle fly-tipping. This includes the power to take those accused of fly-tipping to court. If a fly-tipper is convicted in a Magistrates’ Court, the offence is punishable by a fine of up to £50,000 or 12 months’ imprisonment. If they are convicted in a Crown Court, the offence can attract an unlimited fine and up to five years’ imprisonment. We have cracked down on offenders by working with the Sentencing Council to strengthen the guidance for environmental offences. We will keep this guidance under review as we deliver on our manifesto commitment to secure tougher penalties. We will continue to work with magistrates and the Judicial Office to ensure magistrates are effectively trained in the use of the guidance and are aware of the prevalence of waste crime and the significance of its impact on local communities. This will help to ensure that fly-tippers receive appropriate sentences for the offence they have committed. Local authorities have powers to search and seize vehicles of suspected fly-tippers, and the power to issue fixed penalty notices of up to £400 for fly-tipping offences and for those who breach their duty of care by passing their waste to a fly-tipper. In August 2019 we published publicity materials aimed at helping householders better understand their responsibilities under the waste duty of care. The materials have been provided to the Local Government Association to circulate to local authorities and published on the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group’s website. Powers to tackle fly-tipping are also being enhanced through the newly introduced Environment Bill, in particular through amendments to the powers to search for and seize evidence, as well as amendments to the powers of entry in the Environment Act 1995, to make it easier for enforcing authorities to use them. In addition to the measures in the Environment Bill, Defra is developing proposals to fundamentally reform the waste carrier, broker, dealer regime and introduce electronic waste tracking which will ensure those transporting waste can be better regulated, and that we are able to track waste through the system at all points. Defra is also developing a fly-tipping toolkit, which will be a web-based tool to help local authorities and others work in partnership to tackle fly-tipping. It will cover the use of new technology to report fly-tipping, the presentation of cases to court, the sharing of intelligence within and between partnerships and will promote the duty of care to individuals and businesses.

Incinerators: Fires

Elliot Colburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of trends in the number of fires being reported at waste incinerator sites since 2015.

Elliot Colburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department has taken to help prevent the occurrence of fire incidents at waste incinerator sites.

Rebecca Pow: No assessment has been made of trends in the number of fires being reported at waste incinerator sites since 2015. In England all incinerators that are regulated by the Environment Agency (such as energy from waste plants that burn municipal waste) are required to have a management system which identifies and minimises the risk of pollution due to accidents, which will include fires. All new incinerators must also have an approved fire prevention plan before they are allowed to start operating.

Waste Disposal: Environment Protection

Elliot Colburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what comparative assessment she has made of the environmental effects of mechanical biological treatment waste processes and waste incineration processes.

Rebecca Pow: Defra has not made such an assessment. Residual waste should be treated in accordance with the waste hierarchy. To assist decision makers, the department published information on the mechanical biological treatment of waste in 2013. This can be found on the GOV.UK website at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/mechanical-biological-treatment-of-municipal-solid-waste. Information on energy from waste (incineration with energy recovery) was published in 2014 at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/energy-from-waste-a-guide-to-the-debate.

Air Pollution

Elliot Colburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of trends in the level of air pollution in (a) the UK and (b) Carshalton and Wallington constituency.

Rebecca Pow: Air quality is generally improving in the UK, as set out in the annual National Statistics report at the following URL: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/air-quality-statistics. There are 171 automatic national monitoring stations producing hourly air quality measurements in the UK operated by the Environment Agency on behalf of Defra. Near real-time measurements from these sites and further data tools can be found on the UK-AIR website (https://uk-air.defra.gov.uk). There are no automatic national monitoring stations in Carshalton and Wallington constituency. However, the London Borough of Sutton also assesses air quality using three automatic monitors within the constituency boundary: two are industrial monitoring stations at Beddington Lane, and the other site is a roadside site in central Wallington. Near real-time measurements from these sites can be found on the London Air website which is managed by King’s College London (http://londonair.org.uk). Air quality is improving at all three sites, with only the Wallington site providing an exceedance of the annual mean limit value for nitrogen dioxide (NO2) in 2019 (based on provisional data). The Borough also uses 15 passive monitors to measure NO2 within the constituency boundaries; measurements are made available through Annual Status Reports (https://www.sutton.gov.uk/info/200497/pollution/1232/air_pollution/3). Only two exceedances of the annual mean limit value for NO2 were observed in 2018 (at Rosehill Roundabout and London Road, Hackbridge) with levels at most sites either showing a lower or similar value compared with 2017 levels.

Viridor

Elliot Colburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of trends in the level of air pollutants generated by the Viridor energy recovery facility incinerator on Beddington Lane in South London.

Elliot Colburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the level of carbon monoxide emissions from the Viridor energy recovery facility incinerator on Beddington Lane in South London during January 2020.

Rebecca Pow: The Environment Agency (EA) regulates the Energy Recovery Facility (Erf) in Beddington Lane, Sutton through an Environmental Permit under the Environmental Permitting Regulations 2010. The permit has strict conditions relating to acceptable levels of emissions of substances. The ErF operator (Viridor) is required to continuously and periodically monitor the emissions from the Erf stacks and submit the monitoring data quarterly to the EA. The EA assesses all data submitted including breaches in emission limits for trends and requires the operator to investigate issues and take actions to rectify them. The quarterly monitoring data that covers January 2020 is due to be submitted to the EA before end of April 2020. The EA have not received any notifications for breaches in emission limits during January 2020.

Flood Control: Finance

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with representatives from the Environment Agency on additional resources for the maintenance of flood and drainage systems.

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to ensure the adequacy of resources available to the Environment Agency for the maintenance of (a) flood defences and (b) drainage systems.

Rebecca Pow: The Government is investing £2.6 billion between 2015 and 2021 to deliver more than 1,000 flood defence projects to better protect 300,000 homes by 2021.This is on top of £1 billion to maintain flood defence assets between 2015 and 2020. This includes investing in developing technology and direct maintenance work such as managing drainage systems, inspecting assets and carrying out repairs. This is a real-terms increase when compared with the average annual capital investment of £812 million over the previous five years. Defra will continue to work with the Environment Agency to consider future investment needs ahead of the Budget announcement on future floods funding on 11 March 2020.

Domestic Waste: Landfill

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate her Department has made of the amount of household recycling that went to landfill in each of the last 10 years.

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate her Department has made of the amount of household recycling that became refuse derived fuel in each of the last 10 years.

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate her Department has made of the amount of household recycling that became solid recovered fuel in each of the last 10 years.

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate her Department has made of the amount of household recycling that was repurposed in each of the last 10 years.

Rebecca Pow: Consistent data at this level of detail for the treatment of material collected for recycling is only available for the last four years when a new more detailed data reporting structure was introduced. Table 1 below shows the tonnages of all local authority waste collected in England for recycling as source segregated or comingled material that is sent to landfill, incineration and recycling. All local authority waste will primarily relate to household waste (approximately 90 per cent) but will include a proportion of non-household waste. The data does not distinguish between material that became refuse derived fuel and solid recovered fuel; a total for material sent for incineration has been provided. Repurposing has been interpreted to mean recycling (including preparation for reuse); detailed information on the specific end uses is not collected. Due to the complexity of the data and the multiple treatment stages that the material may go through, any consequent slight differences in data recording or cases of unknown treatments, it is possible that there are tonnages that are not fully captured in the landfill and incineration figures but these will be small (a combined maximum 20-40 thousand tonnes in total in any of these years).  Table 1 Treatment of non-residual local authority collected municipal waste in EnglandFigures are in thousand tonnesTreatment of Non residual waste2015/162016/172017/182018/19Sent to Landfill14614810378Sent to Incineration268284357429Recycled or Reused10,47310,62710,24910,215 Notes:-Figures relate to all (“Household” and “non-household”) local authority waste from non-residual waste streams.Incineration includes material reported as refuse derived fuel (RDF), incineration with energy recovery, incineration without energy recovery and other heat treatments. Outputs from incineration which are subsequently landfilled are not included in the landfill figures to avoid double counting.The “Recycled” total does not include material recycled from the residual waste stream and so will not agree with published totals for recycling.

Tobacco: Litter

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the contribution of the tobacco industry in tackling litter from its products.

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has made an assessment of the potential (a) merits of the EU proposal to introduce a producer responsibility scheme for the tobacco industry on litter and (b) effect on environmental protection of not introducing that scheme in the UK.

Rebecca Pow: The Government has made no specific recent assessment of the UK tobacco industry’s contribution to tackling smoking-related litter. We would like to see the tobacco industry delivering on the commitment given by the Tobacco Manufacturers' Association to tackle the litter created by its products and their users, but this must be achieved without breaching the UK’s international obligations.Tobacco packaging is covered by the current Producer Responsibility Regulations, which require companies to recycle a proportion of the packaging waste they place on the market. Our forthcoming Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) scheme for packaging, including relevant tobacco packaging, will require producers to cover the full net costs of managing packaging at its end of life, including litter. This will be introduced in 2023.In the Resources and Waste Strategy (RWS), we committed to looking into and consulting on EPR for five new waste-streams by 2025, and consulting on two of these by 2022. We have currently identified our five priority waste-streams as: textiles, fishing gear, certain products in construction and demolition, bulky waste and vehicle tyres. This list is not fixed and does not exclude the potential to review and consult on EPR for other waste streams if these are identified as being of equal or higher priority.The EU’s Single-Use Plastics Directive includes measures to implement an EPR scheme for tobacco products with filters, and filters marketed for use in combination with tobacco products, which should cover the costs of awareness raising, data gathering and litter clean-up of these products.Now that the UK has left the EU, the Government will use this opportunity to refresh and renew our environmental policy. In the RWS, we committed to meeting or exceeding the ambition of the EU Directive, and we will do this in a way that works best for the UK’s aspirations in this policy area.

Air Pollution: Health Hazards

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to prevent health complications caused by PM2.5 particles.

Rebecca Pow: Short term exposure to elevated levels of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) can impact the health of vulnerable groups. That is why we provide alerts and advice during air pollution episodes to ensure people can access the information and the health advice they need in order to minimise impacts. During episodes of elevated air pollution Defra works closely with Public Health England and a network of health charities to ensure that key health messages are communicated to those who are vulnerable to the effects of air pollution. However, the biggest impact of particulate air pollution on public health is understood to be from long-term exposure to PM2.5, which increases the age-specific mortality risk, particularly from cardiovascular causes. The Clean Air Strategy, published in January 2019, sets out the comprehensive action required across all parts of Government to improve air quality, and reduce public exposure to particulate matter pollution. Through the Environment Bill, re-introduced to Parliament on 30th January, we are also establishing a duty to set a legally-binding target for PM2.5. This target will drive action to reduce long term exposure to PM2.5 and its associated health impacts.

*No heading*

Jon Cruddas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to paragraph two of the Government Response to the Environmental Audit Committee’s Tenth Report of Session 2017-19, Hand car washes, HC 981, where the Environment Agency's updated guidance on pollution prevention is located on gov.uk.

Rebecca Pow: The guidance was updated in May 2019 and can be found on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/pollution-prevention-for-businesses. The Environment Agency has restructured this guide to improve the experience of users and eliminate duplication.

*No heading*

Jon Cruddas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to paragraph two of the Government Response to the Environmental Audit Committee’s Tenth Report of Session 2017-19, Hand car washes, HC 981, if she will publish the correspondence from the Environment Agency to local planning authorities in England that directs those authorities to that agency's updated pollution prevention guidance.

Rebecca Pow: The Environment Agency (EA) has been liaising with the Local Government Association (LGA) in regards to a draft guidance document and has input to a section covering environment and drainage. This considers the discharge of effluent from hand car washes. To ensure that local councils are made aware of such considerations for this form of car washing, the EA considered that the publication of the guidance would be made by the LGA as opposed to writing to individual councils. The EA joined a workshop held by the Responsible Car Wash Scheme on 26 November 2019 in London, where the guidance was discussed. The EA is awaiting confirmation from the LGA that the guidance has been published and issued to local authorities.

*No heading*

Jon Cruddas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to paragraph three of the Government Response to the Environmental Audit Committee’s Tenth Report of Session 2017-19, Hand car washes, HC 981, if she will publish the (a) dated correspondence from the Environment Agency to major supermarkets and (b) replies received.

Rebecca Pow: A copy of the dated correspondence from the Environment Agency to major supermarkets will be placed in the Library of the House. Replies were not requested and have not been recorded centrally.

Home Office

Offences Against Children

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the prevalence of child sexual abuse in each of the last five years.

Victoria Atkins: The Home Office collects and publishes data on crimes recorded by the police, including crimes related to child sexual abuse. These are published quarterly in the Office for National Statistics bulletin “Crime in England and Wales”. The latest data are available here: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/bulletins/crimeinenglandandwales/yearendingseptember2019The ONS have recently published additional statistics and commentary on child sex abuse. There are available here https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/articles/childsexualabuseinenglandandwales/yearendingmarch2019. The most recent survey estimates that in the year ending March 2019, approximately 3.1 million adults aged 18 to 74 years experienced child sexual abuse before the age of 16 years. This is equivalent to 7.5% of the population aged 18 to 74 years.

Firearms and Knives: Liverpool

Ian Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to reduce the rates of (a) gun and (b) knife offences in Liverpool.

Kit Malthouse: The Government is committed to tackling gun crime and knife crime across England and Wales. Through the Offensive Weapons Act 2019 we have introduced a ban on certain rapid-firing rifles and we are also introducing greater regulation of antique firearms to prevent their misuse by criminals.We have also consulted on statutory guidance on firearms licensing to improve standards and the consistency of police licensing decisions, and we have established a multi-agency national firearms threat assessment centre to improve our capability to disrupt the supply and use of illegal firearms by criminals and Organised Crime Groups. This unit works closely with Merseyside police and the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit.The Offensive Weapons Act 2019 will also give the police with more powers to tackle knife crime and make it more difficult for young people to get hold of knives in the first place. The Act also introduces Knife Crime Prevention Orders which will give the police an important new tool to help them to help to steer those most at risk away from serious violence and knife crime.Funding for Merseyside Police increased by £18.3 million last year and the Merseyside Police and Crime Commissioner has set out her plans to use this funding to recruit 80 more police officers. In addition, the Home Office has provided £100 million in 2019/2020 through the Serious Violence Fund. Of this, Merseyside Police has been allocated and additional £4.2 million this year from the Home Office Serious Violence Fund to pay for a surge in police operational activity against serious violence, and a further £3.37 million to develop Merseyside’s Violence Reduction Unit. This is a non-statutory partnership which offers leadership and strategic coordination of the local response to serious violence by bringing together police, local government, health and education professionals, community leaders and other keypartners to identify the drivers of serious violence and agree a multi-agency response. The Government has announced a further £35 million to continue funding Violence Reduction Units next year, and Merseyside has been allocated a further £3.37 million for 2020/21 as part of this.The Government has also provided Merseyside Police and Crime Commissioner with £700,000 over two years through our £22 million Early Intervention Youth Fund for an early interventions programme targeting young people aged 8-19, to tackle serious violence and criminal exploitation. Under year 3 of the anti-knife crime Community Fund (2019-20), we have funded 5 community-based projects in Liverpool and Merseyside totalling £132,550.We are also providing a targeted £25million to tackle county lines drugs gangs, given the links between drugs, county lines and serious violence.

Visas: Research

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to create new endorsing bodies for the new global talent visa to enable science and technology companies in (a) Cambridge and (b) the UK to access the global talent that they need to innovate and grow.

Kevin Foster: On 27 January, the Government announced details of the reformed Global Talent visa, including a new fast-track scheme for top scientists, researchers and mathematicians, which would be managed by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). These changes are part of an initial phase of wider reforms to enable those with world-class specialist skills to come to the UK.The Government will continue to work closely with the existing Endorsing Bodies, including UKRI, and the wider scientific community. As part of this development we will discuss the inclusion of additional endorsing bodies.

Immigration: EU Nationals

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications for Indefinite Leave to Remain on the grounds of long residency her Department received in each month over the last two years; and how many of those applications submitted prior to 30 June 2019 are yet to be processed.

Kevin Foster: We do not publish this data for this specific group of applicants but as per the In-Country migration statistics published in August 2019, 98.2% of settlement applications were decided within the six-month service standard.This figure will include applications made by those seeking Indefinite Leave to Remain on the grounds of long residency.The data can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/in-country-migration-data-august-2019.

Domestic Violence: LGBT People

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much funding was allocated to the specialist LGBT+ sector for the provision of domestic abuse services in each year between 2016 and 2020.

Victoria Atkins: The Home Office has provided over £980,000 of funding to specialist LGBT+ organisations for the provision of domestic abuse services between 2016 and 2020.The financial year breakdown spend is as follows: FY 2016-2017 – £120,000FY 2017-2018 – £120,000FY 2018-2019 – £370,000FY 2019-2020 – £370,000 This includes £120,000 of funding each year since 2016 for the National LGBT Domestic Abuse helpline, which provides emotional and practical support for LGBT+ people who are experiencing or have experienced domestic abuse.It also includes £500,000 funding provided to Galop, a specialist LGBT+ domestic abuse service. This funding includes the provision of training and consultancy to deliver knowledge and understanding of the needs and experiences of LGBT+ victims of domestic abuse to statutory organisations that work with victims of domestic abuse.

Knives: South Leicestershire

Dr Luke Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to tackle knife crime in (a) Hinckley and (b) Bosworth; and what progress has been in the last 12 months.

Kit Malthouse: This Government is determined to turn the tide on knife crime in all areas, wherever it occurs. Across England and Wales, we are recruiting 20,000 more police officers over the next three years and increasing sentences for violent criminals. We have made it easier for the police to use enhanced stop and search powers and we will introduce a new court order to make it easier for the police to stop and search those who have been convicted of knife crime.We will also ensure that anyone charged with knife possession will appear before magistrates within days and we are also making £10 million available to the police to equip more officers with tasers. In addition, we have legislated through the Offensive Weapons Act 2019 to give the police more powers and to ensure knives are less likely to make their way on to the streets and we will also be introducing the Serious Violence Bill to place a duty on the police, councils and health authorities to work together to prevent and tackle serious violence.Over the last 12 months, we have increased police funding, by £1 billion this year and announced that the amount of funding available to the policing system in 2020 to 2021 will increase by more than £1.1 billion. We have also announced a targeted £25 million to tackle county lines drug gangs, given the links between drugs, county lines and serious violence and we have provided the £100 million Serious Violence Fund to provide support to the 18 police force areas most affected by serious violence.This has seen an extra £1.4 million provided to Leicestershire Police for operational, surge activity against serious violence, and £880,000 this year to the Leicestershire Police and Crime Commissioner, with a similar amount next year, to develop a Violence Reduction Unit to help build capacity across the area to tackle serious violence. In addition, the first grant round of the Youth Endowment Fund has also taken place, with 23 successful projects across England and Wales are sharing £17.1m over 2 years for work to support children and young people most vulnerable from becoming involved in crime and violence.This includes £486,000 to Leicestershire County Council for an Advanced Lifeskills project across schools in Leicestershire. In addition, through our Early Intervention Youth Fund, the Leicestershire Police and Crime Commissioner has received £347,272 to help fund a project in the most deprived areas of Leicester and Leicestershire where serious violence is most prevalent, and under year 3 of the anti-knife crime Community Fund two community based projects in Leicester have received funding support.

Asylum: Deportation

Scott Benton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of failed asylum seekers who have absconded before deportation in each of the last five years.

Kevin Foster: The Home Office does not hold the information you have requested.

Asylum: Deportation

Scott Benton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many failed asylum seekers have been deported in each of the last 10 years.

Kevin Foster: The Home Office publishes data on returns from the UK in the ‘. https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/immigration-statistics-quarterly-releaseData on the number of returns, by year, type of return and asylum and non-asylum related returns are published in table Ret_05.Asylum-related returns relate to cases where there has been an asylum claim at some stage prior to the return. This will include asylum seekers whose asylum claims have been refused, and who have exhausted any rights of appeal, those returned under third country provisions, as well as those granted asylum/protection, but removed for other reasons (such as criminality). Therefore not all ‘asylum’ cases will relate to failed asylum seekers.The term 'deportations' refers to a legally-defined subset of returns which are enforced either following a criminal conviction or when it is judged a person’s removal from the UK is conducive to the public good. Information on those deported is not separately available and therefore the published statistics refer to all enforced returns.The latest data relates to the year ending September 2019.Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the. https://www.gov.uk/search/research-and-statistics?content_store_document_type=upcoming_statistics&organisations%5B%5D=home-office&order=release-date-oldest

Asylum: Deportation

Scott Benton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to locate failed asylum seekers who have absconded prior to deportation.

Kevin Foster: The Home Office takes a number of steps to re-establish contact with Failed Asylum Seekers (FAS) who have absconded. Our dedicated tracing team conducts a full range of checks which cannot be detailed for security reasons.

Offences Against Children

Lucy Allan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress her Department has made on its research on the profiling of the perpetrators of child sexual exploitation.

Victoria Atkins: The Home Office has considered evidence from a range of sources including existing research, published and unpublished data, and insight from investigators and safeguarding professionals to better understand the characteristics of group-based child sexual offending. These include the nature and modus operandi of the networks involved, the backgrounds and motivations of individual offenders, and the characteristics of victims. Emerging findings have been shared with relevant partners in law enforcement agencies.In early 2020 the Government will publish a national strategy, the first of its kind, to tackle all forms of child sexual abuse.Our new strategy will set out our whole system response to tackling child sexual abuse, including group-based sexual offending drawing on this internal work. It will set out how we will work across government, law enforcement, safeguarding partners and industry to root out offending, protect victims and help victims and survivors rebuild their lives. We will work tirelessly to tackle all forms of sexual abuse; there will be no no-go areas.

Asylum

Scott Benton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate her Department has made of the number of failed asylum seekers still living in the UK.

Kevin Foster: Information regarding the number of failed asylum seekers still living in the UK can be found on tables OLCU_01, OLCU_04 and ASY_03 of the most recently published Asylum, UK Visa & Immigration Transparency Data:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/asylum-transparency-data-august-2019

Lancashire Constabulary: Stop and Search

Scott Benton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment her Department has made of trends in the level of the usage of stop and search powers by Lancashire Police; and if her Department will take steps to encourage that police force to increase its use of stop and search powers to help tackle crime in that area.

Kit Malthouse: The police have the government's full support in the fair and targeted use of stop and search to crack down on criminality and violent crime. That is why, last year, we started a national pilot to test a relaxation of voluntary restrictions on "no suspicion" Section 60 powers, used when the police anticipate serious violence.Stop and search in Lancashire increased 39% in 2018/19 compared with 2017/18, the first year-on-year increase since 2010/11. This is similar to the national trend.The Home Office collects and publishes statistics on the number of stop and searches conducted by each police force in England and Wales on an annual basis. Results are published in the ‘Police Powers and Procedures, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin, the latest of which can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-powers-and-procedures-england-and-wales-year-ending-31-march-2019

Special Constables: Recruitment

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she plans to take to increase the number of special constables.

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on increasing the number of special constables in England.

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the application process to increase the number of special constables.

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential (a) merits of increasing the number of special constables and (b) effect of such an increase on levels of crime.

Kit Malthouse: Special constables bring diverse and valuable skills to police forces that strengthen policing and help forces to develop important links with communities. Recruitment and eligibility criteria of special constables are set locally at the discretion of Chief Officers.The Home Office Employer Supported Policing (ESP) scheme is a partnership between employers and the police service aimed at encouraging employers to enable their staff to volunteer as special constables in the communities they serve. The Home Office will continue to work closely with the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s Citizens in Policing Programme and the College of Policing to support the development of a national approach to the attraction and training of special constables.

Special Constables: Equality

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of trends in the rate of diversity in relation to special constables.

Kit Malthouse: Police forces that reflect the communities they serve are crucial to tackling crime in a modern diverse society. The police have worked hard to improve equality and diversity in policing and the workforce is more representative than ever before.The Special Constabulary are currently the most ethnically diverse part of the police workforce. As of 31 March 2019, approximately 11 per cent of all special constables who have stated their ethnicity identified as black and minority ethnic background. This compared with 6.9 per cent of regular police officers who have stated their ethnicity in the same period. Females accounted for 29 per cent of all special constables, slightly lower than for full-time police officers where 30.4 per cent are female.

Special Constables: Training

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the potential merits of online modules in the teaching of the Special Constabulary curriculum.

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the potential merits of using online education for training special constables.

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Education on improving educational opportunities for special constables.

Kit Malthouse: We continue to work closely with National Policing leads to ensure consistency across forces in order to strengthen the national approach to special constables, including their development.It is the responsibility of individual police forces to ensure that special constables receive the training required to carry out the role and decisions on how to train Special constables are taken locally by the Chief Constable.The College of Policing provides bespoke training programmes for special constables as well as national guidance on police standards, including training, which forces can access.

Special Constables: Conditions of Employment

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the level of benefits and compensation for special constables.

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the potential merits of special constables being paid.

Kit Malthouse: Special constables are not paid for their duties but receive out-of-pocket expenses and forces may work with local partners to provide discretionary benefits such as free local travel or council tax rebates.Many special constables, like volunteers in other parts of society, are not motivated by financial reward.It is important that we recognise the contribution of special constables and we continue to work with policing partners to ensure they feel valued and supported.

Immigrants: Health Services

Alun Cairns: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many immigration health surcharges have been paid by overseas (a) doctors and (b) nurses.

Kevin Foster: The Home Office does not collate or publish the information requested.

Home Office: Work Experience

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people aged (a) 16 and under and (b) over 16 years old undertook work experience in his Department in each of the last three years.

Victoria Atkins: The Department does not offer any formal work experience opportunities to individuals aged 16 and under.The Department participates in a number of programmes open to individuals over 16 years old.The Summer Diversity Internship Programme is a six to nine-week paid internship for individuals in their last year of undergraduate study, organised by Cabinet Office. The Early Diversity Internship Programme is a one-week shadowing opportunity for first year undergraduates, organised by Cabinet Office.There is also a shorter Work Experience programme for individuals aged 17 to 18, organised by Cabinet Office. We also participate in Movement to Work, a work experience programme for young people (18-30 years old) who are not in education, employment or training.In 2019 we also ran a Smart Futures programme for young people (16-17 years old). Placements numbers for the last three years are detailed in the below table:Programme201920182017Summer Diversity Internship Programme242322Early Diversity Internship Programme1288Work experience programme202Movement to Work550Smart Futures1000

Free Movement of People: Musicians

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to maintain freedom of movement for live performing and touring musicians after the end of the transition period.

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of a musicians’ passport for live performing and touring musicians after the end of the transition period.

Kevin Foster: Free Movement will end on 31 December 2020 with the end of the Transition Period. Following the end of the Transition Period EEA and Swiss nationals will be able to continue to travel to the UK for holidays or short-term trips, without needing a visa. The current Immigration Rules, including those for visitors, contain a wide range of provisions to cater for artists, entertainers and musicians.The Home Office is currently engaging with other government departments, including DCMS, to ensure the future immigration system continues to support the thriving cultural sector in the UK.

*No heading*

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many drug-related crimes were reported in Havering in each year since 2010.

Kit Malthouse: The Home Office collects and publishes data on crimes recorded by the police in England and Wales, including drug possession and drug trafficking-related offences.Figures for offences recorded within the Havering Community Service Partnership Area can be found in the published tables found at the link below: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-recorded-crime-open-data-tables

Treasury

Social Services: Children

Jim Shannon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether has plans to allocate additional funding to the Department for Education for the provision of children's services.

Steve Barclay: The government recognises the importance of children’s services. Decisions on funding for children’s services beyond 2020/21 will be considered in full at the Comprehensive Spending Review.

Funerals: Children

Jim Shannon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with Ministers in the Northern Ireland Government on establishment of a child funeral fund to support bereaved families.

John Glen: Treasury Ministers and officials have regular discussions with the Northern Ireland Executive on matters of importance to the economy across the UK, including on funding for justice issues. Matters of justice are devolved to the Northern Ireland Executive. It is for them to set their own priorities and determine the allocation of funds to deal with justice issues from within their own budgets.

Tax Avoidance

Owen Thompson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many promoters of loan charge schemes have been (a) charged and (b) fined in relation to their activities.

Jesse Norman: A key part of HM Revenue & Customs’ (HMRC) strategy in tackling promoters of disguised remuneration and other tax avoidance schemes is to change their behaviour so that they stop this activity altogether. HMRC have a range of legislative powers to tackle promoters, under three main regimes: Disclosure of Tax Avoidance Schemes (DOTAS), Promoters of Tax Avoidance Schemes (POTAS), and the Enablers penalty. Penalties can be charged for various failures to comply with the requirements of these regimes. HMRC’s Counter-Avoidance directorate, created in 2013, is responsible for applying these penalties in cases of marketed tax avoidance. Fewer than five penalties have been charged under DOTAS by the Counter-Avoidance team since 2013. Before then a further 11 penalties were charged for more historic DOTAS failings. In addition, there are four litigation decisions received since 2017, all in relation to disguised remuneration (DR) avoidance arrangements, which confirmed HMRC’s view that the schemes are notifiable under the DOTAS regime. Penalty action is being considered in each case. No penalties have to date been issued under the POTAS or Enablers legislation. These regimes have had a positive impact in changing the behaviour of some promoters. As a result of HMRC’s concerted action under these regimes, a number of major promoters have now cooperated with HMRC and have either stopped selling schemes or ceased business altogether.

Tax Avoidance

Owen Thompson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to ensure the proportionality of his Department's policy on (a) promoters and enablers of loan charge schemes and (b) people who have been mis-sold a financial arrangement.

Jesse Norman: The Government is determined to continue to tackle promoters of tax avoidance schemes. The Government announced measures to reduce the scope for promoters to market tax avoidance schemes in its response to the independent Loan Charge Review. Further detail of the measures will be set out at Budget, and new legislation will be scrutinised by Parliament during the passage of the 2020/21 Finance Bill. In 2019/20 HMRC are doubling their resource involved in tackling promoters and have committed to publish a revised strategy for tackling promoters of tax avoidance schemes by the end of March 2020. While the Government empathises with anyone who believes they were misled into using a disguised remuneration scheme, it is an individual’s responsibility to ensure the accuracy of their tax return and to understand the consequences of their decisions. It remains right that the Government takes action to tackle tax avoidance, which is unfair to the vast majority of taxpayers who pay the correct tax. The Government does recognise the importance of taxpayers being able to get reliable tax advice and announced, in response to the Review, a call for evidence on what steps the Government can take to raise standards in the tax advice market to give taxpayers more assurance that the advice they are receiving is reliable.

Employment: Taxation

Owen Thompson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what independent research his Department has commissioned on the administrative costs for SMEs of the roll-out of the off payroll working rules.

Jesse Norman: The reform of the off-payroll working rules in April 2020 will apply only to medium and large-sized businesses, minimising administrative burdens for the vast majority of engagers. The existing rules will continue to apply to the smallest 1.5m businesses. The Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) published in July 2019 sets out HMRC’s assessment that the reform to the off-payroll working rules is expected to affect 170,000 individuals. The TIIN can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rules-for-off-payroll-working-from-april-2020/rules-for-off-payroll-working-from-april-2020.

Employment: Taxation

Owen Thompson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent steps the Government has taken to support the private sector for the roll-out of the IR35 rules.

Jesse Norman: The Government is committed to working with organisations to ensure changes to the rules are implemented correctly. HMRC is undertaking an extensive programme of education and support to help organisations prepare for the reform. This includes:Offering one-to-one support to more than 2,000 of the UK’s biggest employers, and writing directly to 43,000 medium sized businesses and other organisations.Providing large and medium sized businesses, public bodies, and charities with factsheets to share with their contractors, and publishing this factsheet on gov.uk.Holding workshops with small tax agents, recruitment agencies, charities, and public bodies.Holding webinars at least weekly, with small tax agents, recruitment agencies, charities, public bodies and contractors.Publishing an enhanced version of the Check Employment Status for Tax online tool in November 2019 to help individuals and organisations make the right status determinations and apply the off-payroll rules correctly.

Farmers: VAT

Paul Girvan: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the judgment of Shields and Sons Partnership v The Commissioners for HM Revenue and Customs [2017] UKUT 0504, whether he plans to reinstate farmers that have been excluded from the flat rate VAT Scheme as a result of obtaining a greater benefit from that scheme than a VAT registration.

Jesse Norman: The Agricultural Flat Rate Scheme (AFRS) is intended for use by small agricultural businesses and was designed to provide relief for those businesses facing administrative burdens from standard VAT obligations. Following the judgement of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) and the Upper Tribunal, Shields & Sons Partnership was reinstated to the AFRS. Other agricultural businesses removed from the scheme did not appeal HMRC’s decision and subsequent appeals are out of time. These businesses will not be automatically reinstated to the scheme.

Alcoholic Drinks: Excise Duties

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the cost to the public purse was of the (a) freezes and (b) reductions in alcohol duty in each year since 2012.

Steve Barclay: Based on the Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) published policy costings, we estimate the cumulative loss to the Exchequer from the successive alcohol duty freezes and cuts from financial year 2013-14 to the current financial year 2018-19 to be around £5.2bn. The annual impacts on the Exchequer are reported in the table below. (£m)2013-142014-152015-162016-172017-182018-192019-20Exchequer Impact-170-505-685-770-820-1,059-1,217 These past decisions will also incur future losses to the Exchequer in years beyond 2019-20. The OBR’s costings of previously announced policies currently extend to 2023-23, and the future impact of these announced freezes and cuts in the alcohol duties to that year is estimated to be around £5.2bn. The future annual impacts are set out in the table below. (£m)2019-202020-212021-222022-23Exchequer Impact-1,246-1,282-1,320-1,361 The OBR’s policy costings are available at the following link: http://budgetresponsibility.org.uk/download/policy-measures-database/

Child Benefit

Stephen Farry: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the operation of the high income child benefit charge.

Stephen Farry: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of applying the high income child benefit charge to the higher-earning parent regardless of which parent takes main caring responsibility.

Jesse Norman: The Government introduced the High Income Child Benefit Charge (HICBC) from January 2013 to ensure that support is targeted at those who need it most. The latest published figures on the operation of HICBC can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/high-income-child-benefit-charge-data/high-income-child-benefit-charge.

Bridges: Irish Sea

Stephen Farry: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the cost to the public purse has been of assessing the viability of a bridge between Scotland and Northern Ireland to date; and what funding has been allocated to that work.

Steve Barclay: The government is committed to upgrading our infrastructure, and we are looking at a range of options to level up the country and support growth and productivity in every region. We will set out more details on our plans to increase investment in infrastructure at the Budget.

*No heading*

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to lower the duty on (a) beer and (b) cider.

Steve Barclay: Alcohol duties, and tax rates, are kept under review. The impact of a change in duty is considered at each fiscal event.

*No heading*

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans use household income to assess payment of the high income child benefit tax charge.

Jesse Norman: The Government introduced the High Income Child Benefit Charge (HICBC) from January 2013 to ensure that support is targeted at those who need it most. It applies to anyone with an individual income over £50,000, who claims Child Benefit or whose partner claims it, regardless of the make-up of their household.  Basing HICBC on household incomes would mean finding out the incomes of everyone in each of the eight million households eligible for child benefit. This would effectively introduce a new means test, creating significant administrative costs and placing a disproportionate burden on the majority of families who receive Child Benefit.

*No heading*

Steve McCabe: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what fiscal steps he is taking to (a) tackle high care costs faced by people affected by dementia and (b) increase investment in dementia care.

Steve Barclay: At the 2019 Spending Review, the Government provided an additional £1bn funding for social care in 2020-21. In addition the Government has committed to urgently seek a cross-party consensus to bring forward proposals and legislation for long-term reform of adult social care.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Gambling: Video Games

Alex Sobel: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if his Department will take steps to (a) close the monetisation loophole in gambling legislation in regards to loot boxes and (b) empower the Gambling Commission to regulate loot boxes in video games.

Alex Sobel: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to raise awareness amongst children of the risks of (a) in-game purchases and loot boxes in video games and (b) other forms of gambling.

Matt Warman: The Government has committed to review the Gambling Act 2005, and to tackle issues around loot boxes. Further details will be announced in due course. From September 2020 it will be mandatory for state-funded secondary schools in England to teach pupils about risks related to online gambling as part of education about internet safety and harms. This is in addition to initiatives by third sector bodies, including the PSHE Association’s resources for teachers, Parentzone’s tools to help parents educate children about gambling and gambling-like mechanics in gaming, and the Young Gamers and Gamblers Education Trust’s (YGAM) training and resources about gambling and digital resilience for teachers, youth workers, mental health specialists and others who work with children and young people.We also welcomed the launch in January 2020 of the games industry’s Get Smart About P.L.A.Y. campaign encouraging parents to use parental controls and take an active role in their children’s gaming specifically.

House of Commons Commission

Big Ben: Festivals and Special Occasions

Mr Mark Francois: To ask the hon. Member representing the House of Commons Commission, what the cost was of Big Ben chiming on (a) Remembrance Sunday 2019 and (b) New Year's Eve 2019.

Sir Paul Beresford: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 16 January 2020.The correct answer should have been:

The costs associated with striking Big Ben on Remembrance Sunday and New Year's Eve in 2019 were £14.2k including VAT in total. on each occasion.The striking of Big Ben on these occasions was coordinated around the planned works so as to minimise the impact on the project costs and to ensure it did not result in any delay. If the project team are required to strike the bell with less notice, the costs would substantially increase due to the unexpected impact on the project schedule.

Sir Paul Beresford: The costs associated with striking Big Ben on Remembrance Sunday and New Year's Eve in 2019 were £14.2k including VAT in total. on each occasion.The striking of Big Ben on these occasions was coordinated around the planned works so as to minimise the impact on the project costs and to ensure it did not result in any delay. If the project team are required to strike the bell with less notice, the costs would substantially increase due to the unexpected impact on the project schedule.